There’s a cute trend currently doing the viral rounds on instagram, a fast paced collection of all your best bits from 2021, set to the glorious notes of Adele. Beautiful, right?! Absolutely. And as small business owners, it’s vital to celebrate all of our wins and squeeze the juice out of life and everything we achieve.
I was toying with the idea of creating my own, looking back on the year as a whole with all of it’s ups and downs and then my mind wandered to our trip to the Maldives earlier this month I thought… “Man I could make a really cool Reel….”
as small business owners, it’s vital to celebrate all of our wins
But I couldn’t help but wonder what message that would send on a subconscious level…. Any business owner can tell you the sacrifices, the uncertainty, the fears, the late nights, the tears that go into growing a business. And like most entrepreneurs I’ve had my share of those in abundance. So to only show you my highlights would be doing myself and you, my fellow business owner, a disservice.
So instead I decided to share my three big lessons from 2021 with you.
I know, such a dork for that growth life! Ha! But, if we look back on the year and focus solely on the goods bits, theres a chance the not so good bits will be repeated.
Call me crazy, but I prefer to not keep making the same mistakes over and over. So here goes….
Lesson Number One….
I hugely underestimated the value of being in alignment on ALL levels and the impact it can have on everything in your life, including your wellbeing and productivity. So really get to know yourself, what is it you truly want? What are your core values and desires?
And are your actions fully aligned them?
After all, if you don't know who you are or what you want, how can you build a business and life that will truly fulfil you? How will you know what steps you need to take if you don’t know where you’re headed? The more I lean into this line of thought, the better everything gets and the more I have that feeling of deep knowing, that I’m on the right path!
Lesson Number Two….
OH. MY. GOD
Easily the most painful and costly lesson of 2021 for me. As a multi business owner and Mumma to a blended family of 5, it’s easy to fall into the “Busy but not productive” category. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been frustrated because I felt like it didn’t matter how hard I was working, I couldn’t seem to move the needle forward…..
And because I’m a hard worker, my natural instinct when something isn’t working is to, you guessed it, work harder…
You know the expression “Practise what you preach?”. Yeah.
I came to realise that working harder wasn’t going to solve my problems, I had to learn to work smarter!!
Something I am crazy excited to be really focused on in 2022
Lesson Number Three….
If im honest, this is probably more of a lesson learned collectively from previous years. But after turning 35 this year it really hit me.
I thought of all the ways in which I had been frivolous with my time and what I wanted for the future. I have become fully commited to not wasting time on things that don’t serve me.
After all, how we spend our time today dictates how we’ll spend our time tomorrow. And, It also ties in pretty nicely with the lesson of work smarter, not harder. Win!
I don’t believe in failures, only lessons, and lessons are gifts.
So there you have it, my 3 biggest lessons from 2021. I don’t believe in failures, only lessons, and lessons are gifts. It’s this kind of growth mindset that plays a vital role in my 1:1 coaching with small business owners and entrepreneurs alike. Because It’s through making mistakes and learning from them that we can truly achieve our business goals and dreams.
And who doesn’t want that?!
So, do any of these resonate with you? What lessons did 2021 bring you? How will you do things differently for yourself and your business next year?!
Whatever the case may be for you, I wish you a happy, healthy and successful 2022. Thank you for being here and I can’t wait to see what the new year brings you!